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Local "Los Gatos" Gift
2010-02-22 20:29:00
Ever want to give your out-of-area visitors something special to welcome them to Los Gatos , or to send home with them as a parting gift and a happy memory of days here? Something wonderful, small, and deliciously local are the chocolate cats, shaped like Leo & Leona, which can be purchased at the Chocolate Dream Box at King's Court Shopping Center. These chocolaty goodies are easily packable - they're not much bigger than an adult finger. They come in milk and dark chocolate so are sure to please everyone. (I wouldn't mind seeing them come in white chocolate too :-) For some reason, they are not listed on the store's website along with most everything else that's mentioned on the Flavors page. The Chocolate Dream Box is located at 710 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032. The phone number is 408 356-2626 and they can be found online at www.ChocolateDreamBox.com. (This is not a paid post - as with all my posts mentioning ...
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The Lions of Blossom Hill Road Are Back and Once Again Celebrating the Seas
2010-02-17 03:58:00
There are certain things around Los Gatos which we just recognize as being part of the character of the town. Things like the murals all around Los Gatos, things like the tree lighting at Lyndon Plaza the first Friday in December, things like the many free music concerts and Shakespeare in the Park in summer all kind of punctuate living in Los Gatos. They're all part of the character of the town. Sometimes these things disappear - like the termite ridden wooden statue in front of Mountain Mike's Pizza that was removed a few years ago. Bigger things disappear too, like Villa Felice restaurant, which overlooked Lake Vasona (and where many of us enjoyed fine dining for special events like proms or birthdays). Other places have faded from view too - more recently The Cats restaurant (which has been closed a couple of years but maybe, just maybe, is going to reopen) or the La Hacienda restaurant, which appears to be closed forever, sadly. A few w...
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Spring Boutique and Craft Fair at the History Club of Los Gatos
2010-02-12 16:34:00
If you have unique gift items to sell or simply love to shop, you will want to know about the Spring Boutique and Craft Fair at the History Club of Los Gatos March 6th and 7th. You can peruse some of the vendors who are scheduled and watch for updates here: www.springboutique.info. Interested in being a vendor for this event? Please read about it here: www.creativesharing.info or phone Monica for more info at 408-835-5743

Los Gatos Real Estate Market Update for January 2010
2010-02-06 03:54:00
What's the market doing? As always, it depends on which part of the market. For an overview of the Los Gatos Real Estate Market , my Silicon Valley Real Estate Report will update you by home type (house or condo/townhouse). In January , how things seemed depended a lot on what you were comparing it to. Clearly it's a lot better than a year ago - but we have far to go. Los Gatos Houses for Sale, Pending Sale, and Sold in January 2010: Single family homes (houses and duet homes) in Los Gatos - prices are slipping (thought this isn't the case in all parts of the Los Gatos real estate market), sales were up as compared to a year ago, inventory is still low, DOM is shrinking and the list price to sales price ratio is rising slowly. So another month of mixed signals but clearly some "green shoots" of hope. Trends At a Glance Jan 2010 Previous Month Ye...
More About: Real Estate , Real Estate Market

What Part of the Los Gatos Park System Don't We Need or Use?
2010-02-04 07:09:00
What part of the Los Gatos parks don't we need or use? Unfortunately, Los Gatos is not immune from the massive economic crisis we're now enduring. And that's also true for the Los Gatos Park s Department. Budget cuts are coming to the Los Gatos Parks Department. So what can be cut? It's always easy to say "no one uses" this or that park if you're not there to see or use it. One item on the potential chopping block is the upper meadow at Belgatos Park (shown above is the lower area, not far from the playground, the photo below is of the upper meadow). The argument being made is that the water is expensive and no one uses that part of the park, so perhaps we should plant some trees and forget about maintaining a lawn. Is that true? Not when I've walked up the trail toward the resevoir. The upper meadow is a great place for picnics, throwing a frisbee or enjoying some peace and quiet away from the playground, restroom, and the hi...
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Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos and Surmont Area Sales in Last Three Years
2010-01-26 18:08:00
I just updated my Belwood of Los Gatos website with what has closed in the last three years in that part of town (including the Surmont and Belgatos areas). At the top of the page is a live mls-searching map which shows what's available in that area. Right now there's just a duplex for sale there, no houses whatsoever! Scroll down to see first sales in 2009, then 2008, and finally 2007. Home sales information for Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont Some of the numbers are disturbingly low (disturbing if you are a homeowner). Some of the lowest prices have been homes which were distressed sales (short sale or foreclosure) or which were not well staged and easily accessible. Hard to see, cluttered, unstaged homes simply sell for a lot less than homes which are well presented and easily viewed. In 2009 we saw a rise in foreclosure activity in and near Belwood. This may keep up for a couple more years until the current mortgage crisis is cleaned...
More About: Sales , Years

Stay Out of the Mountains and Highway 17 If Possible
2010-01-20 21:07:00
This morning we awoke to no heat, no power at our east Los Gatos home (which is in the flatlands of Belwood of Los Gatos). Luckily the power went out after the heat had kicked in at 6am, but P, G & E's outgoing message when I phoned in at 7 o'clock stated that we should "expect an extended outage". Noddin School, just off Harwood Road and Blossom Hill Road, barely inside of the San Jose city limits, has a large tree downed (see below). Wednesday is the tour day for Realtors in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cambrian Park and Campbell, so I braved seeing about a half dozen homes on my way into the office. Not surprisingly, traffic signals were off here and there and most cars were proceeding carefully after stopping. Others, oblivious, flew through the intersections at times. Some drivers also forget to turn their headlights on in the rain, so they're harder to see in the downpour. So please approach cross streets with caution. One of our ...
More About: Mountains

Light Rail Inching Closer to Los Gatos
2010-01-20 14:23:00
The San Jose Mercury News reports that light rail is inching forward towards a connection with Los Gatos . The proposed station would be an extention of the Campbell line and be located near Winchester and 85 (close to Netflix). The Valley Transportation Agency, or VTA, has been trying to move this forward for years and with the ongoing recession and budget issues, it's been a huge challenge. This is such a case of "what is old shall become new again". About 1900, there was a gentleman named Albert August Vollmer who wanted the Southern Pacific train to do a flag stop near his property, about 1.5 miles north of downtown Los Gatos, so that his daughter could take the train from there (rather than downtown Los Gatos) to downtown San Jose, where she worked. The SP granted his wish and allowed him to name the stop. He named it after his childhood pony back in Germany - gave it the name "Vasona". Hence the name of the park. This was later t...
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Selling Your Home in a Rainy El Niño Drenched Winter: A Few Tips
2010-01-20 01:28:00
Lightning is flashing, thunder is rumbling, the rain is coming down and instead of hibernating, you are trying to sell your home. With a front yard saturated and soupy, what can you do to make your home inviting and pleasing to the serious home buyers who brave this kind of soggy winter weather? Winter home selling poses some challenges, and all of them are exaggerated in a year like this El Niño one with lots and lots of rain. Right now (as I write this) we are in the middle of a 7-10 day deluge and I thought potential home sellers might wonder what do do if they have got to sell now. Below are a few tips for selling your home in Silicon Valley when the rains seem relentless: Make sure to keep your sidewalks, driveway, walkways and other hardscape as free of debris as possible - this will require ongoing attention but will lessen the chances of anyone getting hurt slipping while walking to or near your home, and the cleaned up appearance will...
More About: Selling , Tips , Home

An Accident Waiting to Happen: Blossom Hill Road at University Avenue
2010-01-16 01:49:00
There are some intersections that simply seem designed for accidents. Blossom Hill Road at University Avenue in Los Gatos is one of those cases. I don't know the statistics, so perhaps accidents don't really occur there too frequently, but I've seen so many "near misses" that I am deeming it a worthy topic for this blog (though I was tempted to email Mr Roadshow, Gary Richards, of the San Jose Mercury News to see if he'd had complaints about it.). The problem is that the intersection doesn't consist of four ninety degree angles and it makes some drivers think that they have the right of way when they don't. because they seem to think they're "going straight" when in fact they are turning. Drivers heading south on University who want to turn left onto Blossom Hill Road think that they have the right of way. They don't. They are supposed to yield to drivers proceeding straight on University and also to those going in the opposite ...
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The New Los Gatos Library Will Begin Construction This Summer (2010)A
2010-01-14 15:58:00
It was decided at this week's Los Gatos Town Council meeting that the new, much larger and energy-efficient library will be under construction as of the summer of 2010, with completion expected in late 2011. Located close to its current site on the civic center campus, the $18.4 million project will boast approximately 31,000 square feet. The current library, by comparison, was built in 1964 (when the town's population was considerably smaller) and consists of 13,970 square feet.
More About: Library , Summer , Construction

Register (for free) with AlertSCC for Emergency Broadcast Alerts
2010-01-14 01:28:00
The disastrous earthquake in Haiti yesterday is a wake-up call to all of us that emergency situations can happen quickly and without warning, and that communications are often badly compromised when they happen. In the case of our Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, phone lines were down and even some major radio stations in the Bay Area were offline for awhile. AlertSCC is an emergency broadcast system which notifies registered users by voice mail or text message blasts about urgent or emergency situations. This is information you might want in case of floods, fires, or anything else which might cause a major disruption or danger. It's free to register. The information could be a life saver, so register today! AlertSCC is available to those who live and work in Santa Clara County. Visit the website to learn more and to sign up: http://www.alertscc.com/
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A New Home for Mary: Sereno Group Real Estate
2010-01-12 22:32:00
Dear Live in Los Gatos blog readers, At the end of December, I joined Sereno Group Real Estate and am now happily settled in at the Los Gatos office (214 Los Gatos - Saratoga Road, Los Gatos, CA 95030). I'm very, very excited & happy to be a part of Sereno Group, which has a fabulous team of high-producing Realtors, many of whom are friends of mine whom I've known since my first days as a new licensee in February of 1993. Sereno is locally owned and enjoys great community ties, the highest professional standards and superior tools (such as an in-house marketing person to create wonderful print pieces). There are offices in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Los Altos, and Santa Cruz (as of next month).
More About: Real Estate , Home , Mary

Los Gatos Real Estate Market Numbers - in for Dec 2009 and 2009 as a Whole
2010-01-06 19:47:00
My Santa Clara County Real Estate Report is now updated to include the data from December 2009 for Los Gatos, San Jose, and, of course, all of Santa Clara County. From any of the links below, you can navigate to see the same info for he county as a whole or other areas (both cities and districts within San Jose such as Cambrian Park or Almaden Valley). December 2009 report for Los Gatos single family homes December 2009 report for Los Gatos condos & townhomes Third quarter 2009 report for Los Gatos single family homes Third quarter 2009 report for Los Gatos condominiums and townhouses 2009 annual report for Los Gatos single family homes 2009 annual report for condos and townhouses Los Gatos residential real estate prices are down year-over-year (10-20% for most homes). Los Gatos has mixed indicators - some numbers are better, some are worse. Have we hit the bottom yet? Some say yes, some think that there are ...
More About: Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market , Numbers

Want to Sell Your Home in Spring? Lay Some Groundwork Now!
2009-12-15 17:16:00
Yes, I know, it's mid-December and you really don't want to even think about doing anything with your home other than decorate it for the season (and your visitors) right now. But if you want to sell your Los Gatos home in 2010, it would be a very good idea to do a little planning now so that you can be ready to hit the ground running in January for the spring market and not be rushed. What kind of "groundwork" can you do now that won't take a ton of time and be terribly inconvenient? My suggestion is to begin to create a plan of action for yourself. Start with the end in mind, such as "I'd like to be out of my house by April 15th" or whatever target you might have, and then back it up from there with various to do's. Jot down all the ideas first, such as pack up items not needed and put in storage, read market statistics online, pick a couple of agents to interview, plan for pre-sale inspections, do staging or decluttering work, schedule ca...
More About: Home , Spring , Sell

Los Gatans: Please Don't Jaywalk, It Can Be Lethal
2009-12-14 15:44:00
On December 1st, 2009, a 43 year old Los Gatos woman was hit by a car as she was jaywalking near the Starbucks along Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos. She later died of her injuries. Just a couple of days ago, I saw a man, probably also in his 40s, jaywalking in exactly the same location, between Roberts Road and Los Gatos Boulevard. There are traffic signals and crosswalks at Roberts Road and Los Gatos Boulevard, but he, too, chose to take an unsettling shortcut. Blossom Hill Road bends at this point, and cars cannot see if you're rushing to get to Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Hollywood Video, Pier 1 or any of the other cool shops at this busy stretch of the road. It's a blind turn. The woman who died no doubt left many loved ones behind and is deeply mourned, but her accident also traumatized those strangers who witnessed it, especially the 19 year old driver of the car which struck her. That poor teenager will probably be haunted for the rest ...

Got Visitors in for the Holidays? Looking for Something Unique to Do?
2009-12-13 16:33:00
If you have family & friends coming to visit you this holiday season, perhaps you're wondering what you might do that would be a fun and a unique experience for them. What about a trip to Campo di Bocce? In addition to the regular menu selections, now there's a fixed price menu option of a three course meal, with or without wine, at good prices ($19 without wine, $27 with it). If the weather's good, dine outside - and make your friends from snowy places insanely jealous of our weather. If not, there are lots of tables indoors too. Want to play a little bocce too? It's $10 per person to play (unless you're staying in a hotel here in Los Gatos - they have specials for visitors, just show your room key for discounts on playing bocce as well as your food & beverage tab). Campo di Bocce is located at 565 University Avenue at the corner of Andrews in Los Gatos. You can reach them by phone at 408 395-7596 or visit them online at CampoDi...
More About: Holidays , Unique , Visitors

Holiday Shopping in Silicon Valley? Visit Los Gatos! Special Offers This Sa
2009-12-09 16:32:00
Shopping, dining & being pampered in the town of Los Gatos is a joy year round, but holiday visits are not to be missed - especially this upcoming Saturday (12-12-09)! As you may know, every "Second Saturday", the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce spotlights businesses, shops and eateries in town. This month is the best ever. What makes this weekend's Second Saturday so special? free valet parking free pedicabs (drop your packages back at your car & continue shopping!) special discounts in shops, spas, restaurants beautiful holiday decor, scenic setting, friendly people entertainment (wine tasting, music, cooking display - see link for all!) The time is 10am to 6pm for most events (wine tasting 11-5, horse drawn carriages 5-10pm). There will be free music outdoors at Town Plaza Park and elsewhere in shops To get all the details, see a list of participating stores, spas, restaurants and businesses, to view di...
More About: Shopping , Holiday , Special , Offers , Silicon Valley

Los Gatos Holiday Parade 2009 Photos
2009-12-06 16:54:00
The photos below were taken by my better half, Jim Handy, after the float he was on for the Los Gatos Parks Commission got through the parade. His float was about 74 out of 285, so these images don't show any of the early entries like the Stanford University Band and other local participants. He took the photos, I assembled them - enjoy!
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Los Gatos Real Estate Update, Sold Data in for November 2009
2009-12-06 00:12:00
The Silicon Valley Real Estate Report, including data for Los Gatos homes for sale and sold in November, is now ready. Below please find a summary for the key points and a link to view the entire report. The Los Gatos condo and townhouse market had been improving in months prior but seems to have suffered a little setback in November: Trends At a Glance Nov 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year Median Price $573,500 $644,000 (-10.9%) $536,250 (+6.9%) Average Price $560,394 $652,136 (-14.1%) $570,625 (-1.8%) No. of Sales 8 11 (-27.3%) 4 (+100.0%) Pending Prop...
More About: Real Estate , Data , Update

Don't Let Things Grow On Your Roof!
2009-02-18 23:22:00
Winter is a great time for dirt, leaves, and other debris to pile up in your rain gutters. Leave it long enough and there will be buildup. Leave it a really long time and those bits of dust, plantlife and other things will mush together and decompose, eventually becoming plant-worthy soil. Add a few seeds and some rain, and before you know it, green sprouts are popping up on your roof. Today I passed a home in Los Gatos in which this seems to have happened. Grass and weeds were sprouting out of the rain gutters and had crept onto the roof quite a few inches. Why is this a problem? Because the more you grow things on the roof, the more moisture you have getting trapped up there and the faster the roof decomposes. You don't want things like fungus and dry rot to munch away at your home, but having plants grow on your roof is going to lead to exactly that. Keep your gutters clean so problems like this do not have a chance to start. It is i...
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Beware: Fake Property Tax Reassessment Applications and Bills
2009-02-16 03:35:00
On the offchance that you haven't heard of the latest real estate scam related to declining property values, be on notice that residents throughout Santa Clara County are receiving invoices from an agency that appears to help homeowners get their property taxes lowered - for an outrageous fee. The scam notices come from "Property Tax Reassessment" in Los Angeles and it claims that your property values have delined to far lower than your assessed value. We have lived in our Belwood of Los Gatos home for about 9.5 years, so our assessed value is far lower than market value (even today), but this document claimed that our property should be reassessed at about 20% lower still. My response to Jim, my husband, was "Thank goodness their proposed value is wrong". In fact, it's off in our case by about half. Please, if you get this nonsense in your mail, just shred it. You can check comps for your home online very easily and at NO cost at Zillow.co...
More About: Applications , Fake , Beware , Bills

Los Gatos Bank Robber Nabbed
2009-02-13 00:47:00
We've had an unusually high amount of crime relative to normal in Los Gatos in recent months. On Tuesday of this week, the Bank of America in downtown Los Gatos (on North Santa Cruz) was robbed. Happily, a suspect has been apprehended by police and she is now in custody. To read more, visit the Merc's article on this story: Woman arrested in Los Gatos bank robbery
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Photo of Los Gatos Hills and Fog This Morning
2009-02-11 18:59:00
The morning the skies were perfectly clear and void of clouds over Silicon Valley with one notable exception: just over the town of Los Gatos , a patch of low fog was clinging to the hills, nestled into the smaller valleys and cascading like a waterfall through the pass. My husband, Jim Handy, snagged this photo from Communications Hill in San Jose at about 7:45am today. This was a great pic but the sky was very white, so I added some pale blue to the sky (using Picasa and the graduated tint function). Although the pic below is doctored, it gives a better "feel" for what we saw in Santa Clara County today.
More About: Photo , Morning , Hills , Los Gatos

Football is Over: Need Something to Do?
2009-02-10 22:14:00
The SuperBowl has come and gone. Now what??? There's plenty to do in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, San Jose and nearby areas within Silicon Valley. But if you've got the "winter blahs", maybe you could use a few suggestions. The Museums of Los Gatos (2 locations) showcases art (Tait location) and history (Forbes Mill location) The Art Museum of Los GatosCurrent art show is Painterly Painting: The Next Level 4 Tait Avenue, Los Gatos CA Now through February 28th 2009 Also, art classes are offered through the museum too. One offering is a Life Drawing Class, which happens on Tuesdays from 2:30 - 5pm, ongoing, drop in basis. $14 per session (uninstructed, no registration required). Call 408 395-7375 for more information. The History Museum of Los Gatos has rotating and travelling exhibits. Right now the featured exhibits are the car dealerships of Los Gatos). 75 Church St off E. Main St. Los Gatos, CA 95030 408.395.7375 Ope...
More About: Football

Good News: YSI Met Its Goal and Will Remain Open, Active and Working with S
2009-02-09 03:35:00
The Youth Science Institute, which has facilities in Los Gatos at Vasona Lake County Park, in Saratoga at Sanborn Park, and in San Jose at Alum Rock Park, has met its campaign goal of $300,000 and will keep its doors open! Read more at the YSI website: http://www.ysi-ca.org/
More About: News , Open , Good News , Goal , Good

How Hard is it to Sell a Los Gatos Home Now?
2009-02-05 19:24:00
If you read the San Jose Mercury, you've seen a rash of articles on the local, Santa Clara County real estate market. You probably know that although there are a lot of foreclosures in some parts of Silicon Valley, they are being bought up (or "absorbed") at a fairly decent rate. These homes are more affordable, and buyers are responding. Countywide, about one home in four is selling. It's not that easy in the high end marketplaces such as Los Gatos , Almaden Valley, Monte Sereno and Saratoga. In these four areas, only about 8 - 15% of all homes are selling. (Monte Sereno is a very small area and the actual numbers for January were worse as no homes closed escrow, so technically in January that would be 0%. However, it has improved there in February already.) My January Real Estate Report is now out and I invite you to view it and input the area and home type you seek to get the most current numbers. Here's an image from that report re...
More About: Home , Hard , Sell , Los Gatos

Where are the high voltage power lines in Los Gatos?
2009-01-30 05:32:00
Tonight I spent some time on Google maps, looking at the satellite photos and tracing the high voltage power lines that run through Los Gatos . These power lines are somewhat on the north side of town, following Anne Way, Blossom Valley Drive, cutting across Los Gatos Almaden Road, following Blackwell to the Carlton Avenue park, the Live Oak Manor Playlot, and then cutting across Los Gatos Blvd toward Lark, continuing on through the Wimbleton area and nearly touching highway 85. From there, it follows the freeway and the train tracks into Saratoga. I became so engrossed in the satellite photos that I got carried away and tracked the lines up through Saratoga, the hills of Cupertino, down through Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley and Santa Teresa areas of San Jose and down to the substation of the Coyote Valley and also came back through the Santa Cruz Mountains near Montevina Road and through the Lexington area. (Since I followed it for a large area, I a...
More About: Power , High , Lines , Voltage

Want A Great Bowl of Clam Chowder in Los Gatos? Visit Willow Street - It's
2009-01-26 01:39:00
On Friday I enjoyed a late lunch with a real estate colleague and friend of mine at Willow Street Pizza in downtown Los Gatos . The food is always good but this time I had a bowl of clam chowder and it was the best I've had in years. With New England Clam Chowder (the "white" one, as opposed to the red, Manhattan Clam Chowder), there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Sometimes the clams are gritty. Frequently the potatoes disintegrate and the whole soup becomes mushy and too thick. Perhaps most often, there's excessive cream or fat in the recipe and the chowder is unpleasantly oily. The bowl of chowder I was served on Friday, though, was a very pleasant surprise. The potatoes and other vegetables were not overcooked. The soup was very tasty and not overly heavy. And if I'm not mistaken, there were small, delicious dumplings cooked into the recipe too. The combination was unbeatable as the look, texture and taste were all fantastic. ...
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Youth Science Institute at Vasona Park in Los Gatos Needs Your Support!
2009-01-21 19:16:00
The Youth Science Institute, or YSI, is based in Los Gatos at Vasona Lake County Park , but serves all of Santa Clara County. It serves about 30,000 children each year across Silicon Valley and is highly regarded, but has been in danger of being shuttered due to a significant financial shortfall of $300,000. It's down to the wire now and just $20,000 is still needed by the end of January.If you can help, please visit the campaign's website and donate or make a pledge! How did the YSI come to be in such a dire situation? Apparently it was due to a combination of things, from fewer signups in the summer programs, not enough donors or donors unable to be as generous as in the past, fewer field trips (due to state budget issuesj etc. The YSI had fewer than 200 donors prior to the fundraising campaign. Today that number is over 1000. The public support has been fantastic but a little more help is needed: $20,000 by the end of January. Plea...
More About: Support